


Anxious

by awgaskarth0805



Category: All Time Low (Band)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-30
Updated: 2020-01-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:40:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22484968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awgaskarth0805/pseuds/awgaskarth0805
Summary: After messing up at a show, Jack is anxious to go onstage.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 6





	Anxious

**Author's Note:**

> This is a request!

“That was a great soundcheck, guys!” Rian exclaimed from behind his drumkit.  
“Yeah it was! Jack, you didn’t have as much energy as you normally do, are you feeling okay?” Alex asked, making all three of them turn to look at Jack.  
“Oh yeah, I’m all good, just a bit sleepy. I think I’m going to go nap in the green room for a bit, so I’m ready for later,” Jack said, quickly walking offstage and into the green room.  
“That was weird,” Zack stated.  
“I wonder what’s up with him,” Alex added.  
“Time for you to go find out,” Rian said, making a confused look appear on Alex’s face.  
“Wait, what? Why do I have to figure it out?” Alex asked, still feeling confused.  
“You’re the closest to him, he’s more likely to tell you what’s bothering him than us,” Rian explained.  
“Rian’s got a point, dude. He always goes to you first,” Zack pointed out.  
“I guess you guys are right. I’ll go talk to him. What’re you guys going to do?” Alex asked, setting his guitar down.   
“We’ll probably hang out with the openers. Good luck, dude,” Rian said, walking with Zack to where their opening band was hanging out. Alex felt a bit nervous, he really didn’t want to pry or overstep, but he did want to try to help his friend out.   
Alex walked down a long hallway, finally arriving at the green room. He took a deep breath before opening up the door. When he walked in, he saw Jack sitting on the couch, staring at something on his phone.   
Alex could hear light sniffles coming from his friend, and quickly realized that Jack was crying. Alex felt a wave of concern rush through him as he quietly walked to the couch and sat next to his friend.  
“Jack, why’re you crying?” Alex asked. Jack jumped in surprise when he saw Alex and quickly wiped away his tears before shutting off his phone.  
“Alex? What’re you doing here?” Jack asked, sounding nervous.   
“Well, you seemed a bit off during soundcheck, and I wanted to come in here and ask you what’s going on,” Alex explained.  
“Oh, well, I’m fine, nothing’s wrong here!” Jack exclaimed; a fake smile plastered on his face.  
“Jack, I’ve known you since eighth grade, I know you know that I know that was a fake smile. Come on, what’s going on? I want to help you with whatever it is,” Alex stated.  
“Jack took a deep breath, adjusting himself in his seat some.  
“I’m a little nervous to go onstage tonight,” Jack admitted.  
“You’re nervous? We’ve been playing shows for over ten years now,” Alex said, surprised that this was what the issue was.   
“I’m scared about messing up,” Jack stated.  
“Don’t be so concerned about that, we all fuck up sometimes, it’s really okay,” Alex continued.  
“I know, but I messed up a lot at our show a couple days ago,” Jack said.  
“You had an off night, that happens to everyone. Besides, when we first started playing shows, you messed up a lot more than you do now, what’s making you so concerned now?” Alex asked.  
“Well, I fucked up badly enough for the fans to notice. I’ve been looking through my mentions on Twitter, and people posted videos of me getting shit wrong, and talking about how funny it is. Look at this,” Jack explained, turning on his phone and opening up Twitter. After clicking a few buttons, he handed his phone to Alex.   
Alex scrolled through everything and couldn’t help but feel surprised. He could tell that some of the tweets were meant to be jokes, but he did agree that some of the tweets went too far and were just mean.   
Jack was reading along with Alex and seeing everything made tears start to prick at his eyes again. Alex kept reading until he realized that Jack had started to cry again. He turned off Jack’s phone and set it on the table in front of them.  
“Dude, don’t cry over this. I think some of those tweets were meant to be jokes, but some of them certainly did go too far. Fuck those people, don’t let their unnecessarily mean words get you down,” Alex said, putting an arm around Jack’s shoulders.   
“Well, it goes a bit deeper than that, man. Ever since we formed this band, I’ve been extremely insecure about my guitar playing, and I know that you know that. Seeing shit like this just reminds me of those fears and insecurities and makes me think that they’re true. Maybe I am a bad guitar player, and maybe this band would be stronger if I weren’t in it,” Jack said, his voice breaking. He started to cry more, and Alex pulled his friend into a hug. He let Jack continue to cry into his shoulder for a bit before talking.  
“Jack, you aren’t a bad guitar player, and I know you know that,” Alex said once Jack calmed himself down some. He still had tears running down his face, but they were starting to get less intense. Jack pulled himself up to sitting and looked at Alex.  
“I don’t know that, actually. I mess up more than the three of you combined, I-“ Jack started.  
“Jack, I can promise you that there’s never been a time where we ever considered replacing you. This band literally exists because of you. You’re the one who introduced me to the kind of music that we play and made me fall in love with it. Beyond that, you’re very talented, and I’m not just saying that. You’ve come up with some of our best riffs and progressions, and I still get just as excited to hear you play a solo now as I did ten years ago. Fuck those people on Twitter, you’re very talented, you just had an off night, which is totally okay. I sincerely mean everything I’ve said. You’re twenty five percent of this band, it’s always been this way, and it’s always going to be like that,” Alex said, looking at Jack with a serious look on his face. Jack wiped away more tears and took a deep breath before speaking again.  
“Thank you for this, Alex. I really appreciate everything you’ve said. Thanks for being such a great friend,” Jack said, a small smile appearing on his face.  
“Of course, man, that’s what friends are for. Do you think that you’re going to be okay for the show tonight?” Alex asked.  
“I sure hope so,” Jack replied, sounding a bit worried.  
“If something happens or you get nervous, I’ll do my best to help you through it, I promise. I’m not going to let you fail,” Alex stated.  
“Thanks, Alex, you’re the best,” Jack replied  
“I try to be. Now, let’s play some Mario Kart until showtime!” Alex exclaimed, turning on the Wii that was in the room. The two of them spent the next few hours playing games, and looking at things on their phones, and quickly got themselves ready once it was just about showtime.  
“You’re going to do just fine, don’t stress,” Alex said as they started to walk to the stage entrance. Rian and Zack were already there, getting their instruments ready.  
“There they are! Did you guys have a fun afternoon?” Rian asked as Jack and Alex grabbed their guitars.  
“We definitely did, but now it’s time for a kick ass show!” Alex said, trying to get everyone, especially Jack, excited. A couple minutes later, a stage tech told them that it was time for them to go on, so they walked on to a cheering crowd, then started into their first song.  
“We’re All Time Low, and we’re so stoked to be here, this song is called Somewhere in Neverland!” Alex exclaimed as they immediately started into the song. Alex looked over to Jack a few times and saw that it looked like Jack was having a great time. He was smiling and looked much happier than he did just a few hours before. After their third song ended, it was time for some banter.  
“How the fuck are you guys?” Alex asked, earning cheers from the crowd.  
“This crowd is awesome, man. What an amazing city!” Jack exclaimed into his microphone, earning more cheers and applause.   
“Guys, I have a favor to ask, can you guys give it up for my best friend, Jack Barakat!” Alex yelled, earning the loudest cheers of the night. Jack smiled some, grateful for Alex and the fact that he always knew what to do to help him. Once the crowd died down some, they started into their next song.   
Overall, the concert was going really well, Jack seemed to be doing just fine, and the crowd was extremely energetic, and they were super fun to engage with. Halfway through Stela, Jack started to feel nervous again.   
Their next song would be Backseat Serenade, which was the song that he’d messed up so badly the night before. He normally loved to play that song, but the thought of playing it now was just making him anxious and scared.   
Towards the end of Stella, Alex looked over to Jack and saw how nervous he looked, so he decided to try and help his friend. He motioned to their lighting person to turn down the stage lights some, then walked over to Jack.  
“Dude, you look like you’re going to shit a brick,” Alex stated.  
“This is the song I fucked up last night. I’m nervous to play it, because I don’t want to do that again. I’m really nervous and anxious, Alex,” Jack replied.  
“Dude, you kill it on this song almost every time. Yesterday was an unfortunate accident; I promise that you’ll nail the solo in the bridge. Don’t think about the fans, or anything. Pretend that the two of us are at my house playing this song. The only person listening is me, and I believe in you. Trust yourself, and if something does happen, I’ll cover. I promise that you can do this,” Alex said, patting Jack on the back.  
“I hope you’re right,” Jack replied.   
“I know I am. Let’s do this,” Alex stated. He motioned for the lights to come back on.  
“This next song is started by the best guitarist there is. Rock ‘em, JB,” Alex said into the microphone. The fans cheered as Jack started to play. Everything was going really well; Jack played the verses and choruses perfectly.   
Once it was time for the bridge, Alex looked to Jack and gave him a thumbs up as encouragement. Jack played the bridge, not missing a single note.  
“You fucking killed that,” Alex mouthed, making them both smile. Jack mouthed a quick thank you right before Alex started to sing the outro chorus.   
Jack could feel his confidence start to go up. Playing the solo he was so afraid of helped him to see that he was talented and capable, and that there really was a reason that he was in this band.   
He played the rest of the show with a surge of confidence and felt extremely grateful for Alex. Jack knew that he had the greatest best friend ever and felt so lucky that Ale would always be there for him, no matter what was going on.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, this is a request for XxBlurryDiamondxX! I apologize for not posting yesterday, I got the flu yesterday, and didn't have the energy to get this typed and posted. But, I didn't want to go two days without putting up a story, so I finally got this typed up!! I don't have any of my other requests written yet, so if I do get something up tomorrow, it would probably be one of the stories I wrote back in September, but I might try to get something written later!! As always, feel free to send in ideas you have, and I'll get to them ASAP! Thank you guys for being so patient, I'm very excited to be over this flu, and back to my normal writing/posting schedule!! Lots of love, Liv.


End file.
